Tips on How to Properly Store Your Coffee

The freshness and flavor of coffee really depends on how well it is stored and maintained. There are conflicting ideas about how this should effectively be done. As your coffee experts, we are here to set the record straight. First and foremost, it is essential to keep roasted coffees away from moisture, air, light, and heat. The ideal way to store coffee is in an airtight container kept in a cool, dry, dark place. While keeping coffee beans in clear, glass containers on your kitchen table may look nice, it is bad practice if you want fresh, flavorful coffee. Secondly, contrary to popular belief, refrigerating or freezing coffee is actually the worst way to store coffee. Coffee is porous, which means that it can absorb external flavors as well as the moisture produced by the freezer or fridge. This deteriorates the quality of the coffee and really makes it taste frozen. When coffee is roasted, the beans release their oils and essences to give the coffee its distinct flavor. You'll notice these oils are more prominent on dark-roasted coffee and espresso. When you break down these oils by freezing, you are removing the flavor. In general, coffee will stay fresh for use within two weeks. With some bulk coffees, placing it in the freezer may be ok once. However, once you take it out, you can never put it back in again, as these stark and frequent temperature changes will ruin the coffee completely. Then, there is vacuum-sealed coffee. You should remember that just because coffee is sealed in a vacuum bag, that doesn’t mean that it will automatically stay fresh. A vacuum-sealed bag does preserve coffee longer while it ships or sits on a store shelf, but even before it was shipped, that coffee had to sit for a while before being sealed for freshness. When it comes to pre-ground coffee, vacuum-sealing is the best option, as it is naturally not expected to taste as great as fresh-ground coffee. Rather, fresh-roasted coffee is best packaged in valve-sealed bags, which allow the gases to escape, and taste best 48 hours after roasting. When it comes to purchasing and storing coffee, it is best to purchase whole coffee beans and store them in a sealed container in a dark area. In order to prevent coffee waste, purchase only as much as you know you can feasibly consume, and grind it only just before brewing. For more tips and supplies for brewing the best coffee, be sure to visit CoffeeAM!